Do you ever have that feeling when you walk into the room and you know your employees were just talking about you? That could be a good thing.
One of the most rewarding parts about being a boss is impacting someone’s life. You have the power to help your employees grow, both personally and professionally.
Read on for eight ways to show your employees that you’ve got their backs.
1. Give regular, constructive feedback
Performance reviews can make employees feel nervous. Ease their nerves by providing regular, constructive feedback. You don’t have to wait six months to praise a staff member for doing a good job. Saying something as simple as, “I like how you took the initiative to organize the old inventory” can make an employee feel appreciated.
At times, you will have to correct an employee’s behavior. Make sure you give constructive feedback that doesn’t sound like an accusation. Stick to the facts.
If you need more advice about giving regular, constructive feedback, check out these tips for giving an effective performance review.
2. Ask employees for their feedback
People want to feel heard. Tell your employees that they should feel free to give you feedback about your management style, the work environment, or how your business operates.
But it’s not enough just to listen. Make sure you take their feedback to heart and make changes that can help the business and improve their morale.
Obviously, you don’t have to follow every recommendation. When someone offers a good recommendation, though, see it through.
3. Acknowledge and reward accomplishments
Acknowledging and rewarding good work makes employees feel good and encourages them to try even harder.
Harvard University offers several ideas for recognizing staff members, such as:
Mentioning accomplishments at staff meetings
Sending cards to employees you want to recognize
Asking your top employees to join mentor programs
Publishing a blog post about an employee’s superb work
If you have room in your budget, you can also offer rewards like:
Productivity or sales bonuses.
Gift cards for outstanding performance
Free lunch for teams that meet or exceed goals
Raises that reflect an individual’s growth and effort.
It doesn’t have to take a lot to make someone feel appreciated.
4. Promote from within
Employees want opportunities to advance their careers. According to one study, 32% of employees quit their jobs because they don’t see career advancement or promotional opportunities.
Show employees that you support their goals by promoting from within when possible. A retail employee who goes the extra mile may make a great shift leader. Eventually, an employee may develop the skills needed to manage a department. You won’t know unless you give them a chance.
5. Train managers to become mentors
Managers can do much more than making sure employees complete tasks and meet productivity goals. With the right training, your managers can become mentors to staff members who want to advance their careers.
By training managers to become mentors, you make it easier to promote from within — and retain your best employees.
6. Create flexible schedules and work environments
Each person has slightly unique needs that employers should recognize and honor. If you create an inflexible work environment and force people to follow overly rigid schedules, that can impact their engagement at work.
Kids get sick. Traffic accidents delay commutes. Alarms get turned off in the middle of a deep sleep.
By building flexibility into your schedules, you let employees perform well without sacrificing needs within their personal lives.
With flexible workplace environments, you show employees that you trust them to make good decisions. For example, you can allow employees to swap shifts when something comes up or share preferences when they want to work.
7. Make health a priority
Healthy employees feel happier and get more work done. Making health a priority doesn’t have to cost your business a lot of money. Even small businesses can start workplace wellness programs when they follow the right steps.
At the very least, you can encourage employees to stay active on the job by gamifying step goals, transforming your breakroom into an exercise room, and sponsor fitness challenges.
8. Stay updated on (and follow) employment laws
Employment labor laws exist to make sure employees have safe places to work and get compensated for their time.
In the U.S., Fair Workweek regulations are springing up in various states and cities to create a fair working week for all hourly workers. Similarly, new changes to Australian policy are impacting how workers are paid.
Staying on the right side of compliance not only keeps you from paying penalties and fines, but you’ll also show your staff that you care about their working conditions.
Happy teams for happier work
Happy employees are more productive and tend to keep working with companies that have their backs. See your retention rate grow when you sign up for a free trial of Deputy.
